Broom-corn harvester.



B. TITUS. BROOM CORN HAR ESTERJ APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3, 1912.

Patented July 30, 1912.

,INV NTOR WIT/V55 B. TITUS.

BROOM CORN HARVBSTER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3, 1912.

1,034,044. I Patented July 30,1912.

4 SHBETSSHEET 2,

I ig ly/m I I I l I l I [NVE/VTOR B. TITUS.

BROOM CORN HARVESTER,

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3, 1912.

Patented July 30, 1912.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

[NVEN TOR I Eel 40710 W72?" ia 14a -B. TITUS; BROOM CORN HARVESTER.

APPILIUATIONIILED JAN. 3, 1912.

Patented July 30, 1912.

4 SHEETSSHEET 4,

BENJAMIN runs, or wELLvILLn vIRGInI'A.

ianoo'moonn IHARVYESTER.

specification of Letters Patent. Patented J uly 30, 1912.

- App1ication fil ed January 3, 1912. Serial No. 669,194.

To all whom it may concern: I

v Be it known thatI, BENJAMIN 'Trrns, a

citizen of the United States, residing at.

Wellville, in the county of Nottoway' and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Broom- Corn Harvesters, of which the following is a specification.

The present lnventlon relates 1n general,

to harvesters, and more particularly to a machine which has been especially designed for the purpose of harvesting broom corn and cutting the tassels therefrom.v

The object of the invention is to provide a machinefor harvesting broom corn which is strong and durable in its construction,

which canbe readily adjusted forthe vari-. .ous heights of broom corn found in different fields'orin'difl'erent parts of the same field,

and which will operate in'a positive and re liable-manner both to cutoff the stalk at the base thereof and to cutofl the tassel at the upper endof the stalk, the tassels being 001- l lected'on a shelf or similar member provided 2 5 for that purpose.

A further object of the invention toprovide -a machine of the character mentioned which can be operated by a single person andv which is quick'and effective in its action, thereby enabling a large amount of work to be accomplished in a comparatively short period of time.

With these and other objects in view, the

invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of the partsas will more'fully appear as the 'description'proceeds, the novel features thereof being pointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying. drawings, in

which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a broom cor-n harvester constructed in accordance with the lnventlon. Flg. 2 1s a side elevation of the same, showing-the manner in which the broom corn is operated upon.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of a harvester constructed inf'accordance with the inven tion. Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the carriage upon which the mechanism is mounted for cutting the tassel from'the upperend of the stalk and conveying the same to a shelf or suitable receptacle for'collecting the tassels. Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view through the carriage shown in Fig. 4, the

receiving a longitudinal roller 10 1s ournaled int main guide members being shown in sect-ion over one end of the carriage. Fig. 6 is a detail view ofthe gear wheel means of which the cutter upon the carriage is driven.

Fig. .7 is a sectional view through the said gear. wheel. Fig. 8 is a view of thecutter upon the carriage, and F 1g. 9 1s a detail view of the-universal joint between the cut-- ter and the shaft by means of which it is driven,

Corresponding and likejparts are referred to in the following descriptionandindicated In all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

Referring to the drawings, ,upon which one possible embodiment- 0f the invention is illustrated, the reference character A designates-a corn harvester which is of the usual constructlon and need not be described in de driven through the field so that the row of corn is received between the guidefmembers tail. This corn harvester is designed to be 1 at one side thereof, a knife 2 being pro- .vided atthe inner end of the guide members for severingthe stalks of corn at-the lower ends thereof. As the stalksofcorn are thus severed, they fall rearward-1y, as indicated by Fig. 2-, It will be understood that this harvester'A may be of any suitable construct-ion. I v

, Projecting rearward from the harvester A is a-frame'B upon which means-is mount ed for cutting the tassels from the. upper ends of the stalks of broom corn and ,col looting the said tassels "in such a manner that they canbe' very convenientlyrenioved.

Extending rearwardly-from the "upper ends of the guide members 1, .are inclined guide strlps'. .which serve to' direct the broom corni as it falls rearw'ardly afterhaving the lower end. of the stalk severed by the knife 2. These guide strips 3 are inclined down wardly toward the rear end of the machine where they are "secured to-theframe B by suitable braces 4. Bymeans of the guide.

ice

strips 3 the broom corn-is caused to'fall in a proper and uniform mannerupon the cutter of a carriage 6, the said cutter serving to remove the tassel. V The carriage 6 is movable longitudinally upon the frame B so as to be shifted rearwardly or forwardly with -.respect to the harvester A. One end of the carriage 6- is formed with a bracket 7 formed with a loop "8 loosely guide rod 9.. A e upper portion,

of the loop 8 and travels upon the rod 9 so as to reduce the friction and enable the carjournale d thereon, the said roller traveling upon the upper ,surface of the guide rod. The carriage is connected to an endless cable 14: which passes around a guide member or pulley 15 at the rear end of the frame 13. At the forward end of the machine the cable '14 is formed with a chain port-ion 1 1 which extends around a toothed wheel 16 at the lower end of a vertical shaft 17. A handle 18 is applied to the upper end of this vertical shaft 17, and it will be obvious that by suitably turning this handle the carriage 6 can be moved back and forth upon the guide-rods 9 and 12, as may be desired.

An endless conveyer belt'19 is mounted upon the carriage 6,the said conveyer belt passing around therolls 20 and 21 at opposite ends of the carriage. The roller 20 is provided at the end thereof with the rotary cutter 5 which is designed to sever the tassels from the upper ends of the stalks as they fall through the main guide strips 3 The end of the carriage 6 which is provided with the cutter 5 is provided with an inclined guide 22 adapted to deflect the tassels upon the conveyer belt 19. This in- 23. The tassels which have been severed from the stalks and deflected upon the conveyer belt 19 by' the inclined guide 22 are carried -to the opposite end of the carriage 6 where they are deposited upon ,a shelf 24. Adapted tocooperate with the inclined guide 22 to direct the corn properly upon the rotary cutter 5 is a guide bracket 25 which is secured to the carriage 6 adjacent the cutterf The corn'is thus caused to fall. uniformly and accurately upon the cutter 5 so that the tassels are properly severed therefrom.

In order to accommodate the machine to different heights of corn which may be found in difiercnt parts of a field, it is merely necessary to move the carriage 6 back and forth as may be required.

A drive shaft 26 is connected by a universal joint 27 to the roller 20 of the inn-- riage, the said drive shaft having a polygonal cross section sliding freely through a similar polygonal opening in a sleeve 28 applied to a gear wheel 29. The sleeve 28 is normally locked with the gear wheel by means of a set screw 28'' which passes through the hub of the gear wheel. The gear wheel may be connected to the gearing of the harvester in any. manner, and as the carriage 6 is'rnoved back and forth, the angular shaft 26 slides freely through the sleeve28, thereby enabling power to be continuously transmitted to the roller 20 for the purpose of operating both the cutter 5 and the conveyer belt 19.

In the operation of the device, the machine is deslgned to be driven through a field of broom corn in'the same manner in which the harvester portion A would ordinarily be driven through a field of ordinary corn. The stalks of corn are cut-by the knife 2 and the corn then caused to fall rearwardly so that the tassel portions thereof drop upon the guide 22 of the carriage and are defleet-ed thereby toward the conveyer belt 19. The cutter 5 then severs the tassels from the body portion of-the stalks, and the t-assels are carried by the conveyer belt 19 to theshelf 2 1. The severed tassels are collected on this shelf, and may be removed from the shelf at convenient intervals of time.

General reference has been made to thefact that the drive shaft 26 has a universal joint'connection 27 with one of the rolls 20 of the carriage having'the conveyer belt 19 but in this connection a detail of practical importance resides in the feature of, having the spindle end 20 with which the joint 27 is made, threaded so that there may be applied thereto a clamping nut 20 arranged in a recess in one side of the carriage frame and serving to clamp the knife 5 against one end of the roller 20 the parts being maintained very securely in this relation through the medium of an outer bearing plate 20 that is fastened to the frame of the carriage vester in any suitable manner, yet a sim 1e and practical method of accomplishing t is drive connection is shown in the drawings and'resides in employing a drive chain 30 which passes over the sprocket teeth on the wheel 29 and receives its motion from a pinion 31 on one end of a countershaft 32, the other end of which counter-shaft carries-a beveled gear pinion 33 that meshes with a beveled gear drive wheel 3%. carried on the main operating shaft- 35 of the harvester mechanism, and which shaft 35 has a direct driving connection 36 with the main axle or ground wheel of the harvester, all of which plainly appears in the drawings. It should be further explained that the distinctive feature of the present invention is to provide a broom corn hziwesting mechanism with a cutting and collecting attachment of the character described, whereby broomcorn stalks may be profitably harvested by machinery in the lield, that is to say, whereby Hill'll stalks may not only be cut down from the ground, but the tassel ends thereof known as the boot and this subsequen machine for thus removing the boot and threshing the tassel forms the subjectvma-tter of-the related application filed January 3, 191 Serial No. 669,195, and inihis connection it should be further observed that ink; asmuch as any machine has not heretofore been provided for removin this boot, it has been heretofore unpro table to harvest standing broom-corn by the usual harvesting machinery. Instead of using such harvestingmachinery, the common practice has been to simply cut by hand the tassel end from standing broom-corn in the field. Hence, the practical utility will be apparent for the novel combination of a harvester for broom-corn having means for cutting the stalks as they stand in the field and then for subsequently severing the tassel ends in preparation for the booting operation.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new'and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A harvester for broom corn including ,rrncans for cutting the stalks as they stand in the field, a conveyer attachmentincluding cutting means occupying a fixed location as i for cutting off the tassel and boot ends. of the stalks in substantially uniform lengths, and means for adjusting said conveyer means to adapt the same to varying lengths of stalks. v p

2. A harvester for broom-corn including means for cutting the stalks as they stand in the field, a carriage novably mounted upon the harvester, a conveyer on the carriage, a cutter upon the-carriage occupying a fixed location at one corner of the conveyer, means for directing the stalks uponthe cutter of the carriage as they fall after being operated upon" by the first cutter, the

said cutter on the carriage {serving to sever v eyer uponthe carriagc receiving the ends of the stalks as 'they are ,seivered by" thefsecond cutter andcarrying them away froin the cutter, and mcans for moving the carriage to properly position the cutter thcrcon' forvacting upon tall and short corn.

3. 'Aharvcster for'broom-corn includingcarriage, guide means for directing theing to sever the tassel ends ofthe stalk, and

means for moving the carriage to properly position the second cutter so that it will opcrate upon corn of various heights. 7

4. A harvester for broom-corn including fmeans for cutting the stalks as they stand in ia field, a carriage movably mounted upon the' harvester, a conveyer on the carriage, a cutter upon the carriage occupying a fixed location at one corner of the conveyer, guides upon the carriage for delivering stalks to the cutter thereonmeans fordirecting the stalks upon the said guides after they have been operated upon by the first cutter, the said second cutter serving to sever the tassel ends of the corn, and means for moving the carriage to properly position the second cutterv so that it Willact upon both short and tall corn.

5. A harvester for broom-corn including means for cutting the stalks as they stand in a field, a carriage movably mounted upon the harvester, a conveyer on the carriage, a rotary cutterupon the carriage occupying a fixed location at one corner of the conveyer, means for directing the corn upon the rotary cutter after ,it has been acted upon by the first mentioned cutter, the said rotary cutter serving to remove the tassel ends of the corn, means for moving the carriage to properly position the rotary cutter for acting upon tall and short. corn, agear Wheel upon the harvester, and a shaft connected to the rotary cutter and formed with an angular portion which "slidesthrough the gear Wheel as the carriage is moved back and forth but is rotated thereby.

6. A' harvester for broom corn including means for cutting the stalks as they stand in the field,*a movably mounted carriage, a cutter occupying a fixed location upon the st lks upon the cutter of the carriage as theyfall after beim acted u on bb a I I ter the said cutter of the carria e SOIVIII" a n tosever the tassel ends of the stalks, and adustmcnt-means for moving the carriage to .-po'sition the cutter so that itwill act properly upon various lengths of stalks.

7. Aharvester forln-oonr corn including means for cutting the stalks as they stand in a field, a movably mounted carriage, a

cutter occupying a fixed location mounted )lPOIil'lK carriage, means for directing the stalks upon-the cutter of the carriage as they fall-after being operated upon by the first cutter, the said cuttcrof the carriage serving to remove the tassel ends of. the stalks, and adjusti'n'cnt moans upon the carriagc for collecting the said tassel-ends of the Stal ks.

8. A harvester for broom corn incliuling means for cutting the stalks as they stand in a'"ficld, a carriage movably mounted upon he first cut Y" the harvester, a second cutter upon the car riage, means for directing the stalks u on severed tassel ends and delivering them'to of the stalks, a

the secondcutter as they fall after being acted uponby the first cutter, the said second cutter serving to remove the tassel ends shelf upon the carriage, a

conveyer upon the carriage for recelving the riage, an endless conve'yer'belt passing over the rollers,'a rotary cutter rigid with one of the rollers, means for directing the stalks upon the rotary cutter as they fall after being operated upon by the first mentioned cutter, the said rotary cutter serving to sever the tassel ends of the stalks, and means for moving the carriage to properly position the rotary cutter so that it will act upon tall and short corn, the conveyer belt serving to convey the severed tassel ends away from the rotary cutter.

10. A harvester for broom'corn including i s me means cutting the stalks as they stand in a field, a carriage movably mounted upon the harvester, a pair of rolls upon the carriage, an endless conveyer .belt assing around the rolls, a rotary cutterv rigid with cutter, means for moving the carriage to properly position the rotary cutter for acting upon talland short corn, a gear Wheel upon the harvester, and a shaft com'iected to the rotary cutter and roll and having an angular portion which slides through the gear wheel of' the harvester as the carriage is moved back and forth but rotates with the gear Wheel so as to drive both the cutter and the conveyer belt.

' In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my; signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

BENJAMIN TITUS.

Witnesses CHARLES TrrUs, AMELIA Trrns, 

